TBBR-Universe 1- Consiquences
by Cinder42
Summary: The first of The Black Blood Realities, a series of black blood centered Soul Eater fics I plan to wright. After the fight with Crona, when Maka is taken over by the black blood, everything seemed like it would be fine thanks to her ability to dispel it, but with so much in her system with such a firm influence, will there finally be some consequences?
1. Night Terrors

**I got a complaint about the spelling and already had a spell, checked version waiting so I figured "why not?" The spelling kind of struggled the first time around because I do all my typing on my touch screen phone, where you can't pinpoint keys with your nails and auto-correct is out to eat your heart. Anyway, here you go, the other chapters should be fine apon upload because after seeing this chapter when I first posted it I realized it was a real problem. Any more errors now should be because I just flat out don't know how to spell that word and I'm not going to apologize for that.**

The Black Blood Realities - Universe 1 - Consequences

Soul fell back, his breath knocked ruthlessly from his lungs by the impact. He gasped for air like a fish on a river bank as his body tried to reorient it'self and his crimson eyes struggled slowly upwards to look at his attacker. They held a look of pure terror, an expression that almost never graced the features of the cool-headed weapon... but then again, those of his opponent were even more incompatible.

The eyes of Maka held none of their usuol warmth or brightness, their emerald gleam twisted in almost a cruel parody of her usuol light. She chuckled through her teeth, clenched in a much-too-wide grin as she stood over the fallen scythe boy. She struck him again with some unknown force and sent him flying back another several feet. Soul cringed into the glass-like floor again as his miester's hollow but ecstatic cackle echoed around him. He watched her boots through one squinted eye as she began to make her way over to his new possition, her maniacal laphing having settled into an erratic chuckle as she tripped over her feet, stumbling as she grew nearer. She finally fell in front of him, her grinning face mere inches from his own. He could see something deep within her eyes, like black voids of emptiness that seemed to suck the existence out of everything around them, hungering to take it for themselves. "M-Maka..." Soul's voice rasped out, cracked and scrachy. Her grin widened, her face looking like it had been sliced completely in half by it, and leaned in closer. He could feel her breath on his ear as she whispered the words that make his blood freeze solid every time."Thanks..."

Soul eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright in his bed, cold sweat covering his entire body as he tried to get his breathing back under control. That had to have been the third nightmare that week. All of them about the same. He let out a long, shaky breath and ran his hands exhaustedly over his face, tangling his fingers in his pale-silver hair. The amartment was dead silent, witch actuolly helped to calm the weapon down, because the worst part of his nightmares, was that they didn't end in the waking world.

They should have known that it wouldn't be that easy, to just use the black blood to such an extent and come out unfazed on the other side. No. That little demon had taken hold of Maka completely, no matter for how brief a time, and his disgusting fingerprints stood out in stark black across her soul, and her sanity.

Things had seemed normal right after the battle. Weather it was the fact that everyone was so wrapped up in the violence of the kishin's escape that it had been held at bay, or just that it needed to gain strength again, everyone had assumed that Maka's soul would just neutralize the black blood like it always did. It wasn't until a little less than a week later that Soul started having doubts.

Shrill screams tore through his slumber like lightning, shocking him out of his bed in seconds. He bolted down the hallway to the sound's source, practically kicking down the door to Maka's room and charging in with his sythe-blade arm poised menacingly above his head, ready to strike. His narrowed eyes scanned the dark room, but quickly fell in confusion. There was no threat in sight, nor any signs of a break in or struggle aside from the sheets and blankets that now littered the floor from Maka's bed. He followed to trail of discarded fabric to find her curled into a ball on her bare mattress, rocking back and fourth slightly as she faced the corner. She looked off in the eery pale light of the moon. Soul knew she had always been skinny, but now she looked like a freaking skeleton, her spine and shoulder blades jutting out profoundly beneath her silky pajamas. He took a cautious step towards his miester, returning his arm to it's usuol human state as he reached out towards her. He could hear her chuckling softly, an unsettling sound as her face sat shrouded in shadows, and started to get a sinking feeling. Her head slowly turned, one green eye coming to settle unsteadily on his face. The breath hitched in Soul's throat as he stared into the hidious void that usuolly held so much. The chuckling girl before him noticed the sudden, fearful change and her chuckles began to rise, growing louder and more unearthly until they broke into a phycotic screeching. Soul reached out to her, trying to calm her down, but she snapped at his hand like a rabbit animal. He flinched back, whatching her in horror as she continued to cackle, rocking violently back and four with no regard for anything. 'This wasn't Maka. This wasn't his miester, his best friend, his-' He didnt bother finishing the thought as the rage that had been bubbling up inside him at the sight finally boiled over. He lunged at the girl, eyes trained determinedly on the empty green pools he usuolly knew so well. She kept on cackling as she was slammed into the wall and pinned there by her shoulders. Soul glared down at her, fury eliminating from him. It only made her seem to laph harder though as Soul finally lost what was left of his patients. "Shut up!" He shouted, pulling back slightly and slamming her head and shoulders back into the wall again. It was firm, but only seemed to amuse the girl even more. "Maka! Come on! Your better than this! MAKA!" He pulled back and slammed down again, emidiately regretting the force as a sickening thump/crack erupted from her skull. She fell silent, her wild eyes settling shut as she slumped back against the wall. Soul froze, staring in shock at what he had done. "No! Maka... no!" He pulled her close and hugged her tightly, listening so intently that he refused to even breath. There it was. He sighed audibly in relief and sat back, reveling in the sound of his miester's shallow breathing and racing heart. He had just knocked her out. He noted gratefully the small dent in the wall behind her, the source of the horrific sound. Still as he looked down at her though he couldnt shake the feeling of stomach-twisting guilt he felt. 'Sure, he didn't actuolly crack her skull or break her neck, but he could have. And if he had-' he was brought back to reality mid thought yet again as a hand began push against his chest. He looked down at Maka, her eyes blinking dazedly as she started to come to. She looked up at him and pushed again, trying to get up, and Soul carefully helped her back into a sitting possition. She rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, they looked duller than usuol, and as she sat still, Soul began to notice the dark circles under them. He didnt care though, they were no longer pools of emptyness gazing back at him. She was there.

After that Maka thanked him, telling him that if that ever happened again, act exactly as he had before. Soul's guts had twisted again at the thought and he adamantly refused, almost getting into a full out screaming fight with her over it. They went to see Stein about it in the morning and he had confirmed that is was the doing of the black blood, specifically the fight with crona. "Allowing it to take her over completely like that left her body and soul's defences weakened, it apears she can no longer filter it completely out of her system like before." He had said. "It seems to multiply in times of weakness, like when she sleeps, when her guard is low." She had had four episodes before that, and at least nine since. Each time it got worse, but Soul never layed a hand on her again during them. He just watched and prayed she'd make it back out and hate himself for not being able to do anything, and Maka would get depressed and fearful, know she was putting her partner through so much, and worrying about the day he may be forced to defend himself against her.

Soul's nightmares had started a week or so after the event, and keapt him awake most nights recently. He gave a huff and swung his legs off the side of his bed, before standing and walking down the hall to the kitchen. He paused briefly at Maka's bedroom door, peeking in to check on her. The bed was empty and made, making Soul's nerves jump a bit, but then he saw the time on the clock next to it. 2:00 AM. He sighed in relief and continued down the hall, finding Maka in her now usuol spot on the living room floor. She sat cross-legged with her hands in her lap, breathing slowly and deeply as four candles burned around her, casting her in a warm amber light. Stein had given them to her a few days ago, instructing her to wake up and use them every two hours during the night. They seemed to help, as she hadn't had a serious night episode since, however, waking up every two hours left her pretty tired and cranky in the mornings and there was worry that her weakened state would leave her open for a day attack. She had brushed it off though, adimant that she would be fine and could handle it, but Soul still worried. Nonetheless, as the floorboards of their apartment creaked under his foot, drawing her attention to his presence, she smiled perkily as if everything was normal. 'How could she be the same girl who bit his shoulder until it bled four days ago?'


	2. Out in the Open

Maka picked up a rubber band from the sink and re-tied her second pigtail in the mirror, completing her clean up for the night out. She stood back and sighed, smiling at her neat and tidy work. Tonight was the first night since the kishin's escape that they were all going out as friends again, Tsubaki had made a huge picnic dinner for everyone and they were all going to meet in the park to hang out. None of them knew about what had been going down at the scythe apartment, and Maka was wearing about a pound of makeup covering her bruises and dark eye circles to ensure that they wouldn't find out tonight.

She turned and walked down the hall, a pleasant spring in her step at the thought of finally just relaxing with her friends again.

Her eyes we caught by a fluffy mass of silvery white hair peaking over the back of the couch as she entered the living room, that she didn't hesitate to give it a quick playful ruffle as she passed. The lounging weapon bellow the fluff made a disgruntled noise and swatted her hand away. "Do you know how long it took to make it look this cool?" Soul asked, once again seizing an opportunity to use his seemingly favorite word. Maka just rolled here eyes and grabbed the keys, tossing them into his lap. "Ready to go?" Soul nodded, his mouth drawing into a tight, grim line for a brief, almost imperceptible second before returning to its usuol lax smile. His miester took notice of it though, and something in her shifted unhappily at it.

In light of recent events, Soul hadn't been too keen on the thought of going out with all their friends like this, especially so late at night. Maka had eventuolly convinced him though, reasoning that she'd barely had a single episode since she got the candles from Stein. However, the uneasiness in his gut was evident.

Black Star and Tsubaki were waiting for them by a large marble fountain when they pulled up on the motorcycle. Well, Tsubaki was at least. Black Star prefered to scream to them from the top branches of a nearby tree, swaying in the feeble tips as his weapon tried to seem as inocent, normal, and NOT associated with her loudmouthed miester as possible. Maka and her friend quickly began to exchange cheerful greetings while the guys did their usuol hand shake, trying rather hard to make it look as lazy and casual as possible, as was the way when trying to cover up a bromance like theirs. Kid and the sisters showed up a few minutes later, the OCD boy's eccentricities holding them up as it often in some way did. Usuolly their little gang would be complete at this point but this time they had an extra member to wait up on...

"You did what!?" Soul hissed in Maka's ear after she had made her little announcement to all of the group who didnt already know, witch consisted only of Soul. "I invited Crona." She said bluntly, refusing to even acknowledge the displeasure in his voice. "He's had a rough time lately with everything so I just figured it would be nice to invite him out with us." "And you did't tell me!?" Soul's voice rose slightly. "I knew you'd freak out like this. You need to be nicer to him, he's actuolly not that bad if you gave him a chance." Soul glared at the pigtailed girl like he was trying to drill a hole in her head with his eyes, as he visibly wracked his brain for a way to argue the point. However Maka turned her attention elsewhere before he could get the chance, directing it at the sound of a loudly complaining Ragnarok and meekly replying Crona coming towards them. She smiled warmly and greeted the black-blooded miester, dodging a few quick pokes and swats from the little imp on his back. "I don't see why I had to come here to hang out with your crummy friends!" He shouted, earning plenty of curious stares from the surrounding park-goers. "Because you're attached to my body..." Crona murmured bluntly in reply. "Well then you should make better friends! These ones are idiots!" Maka rolled her eyes and gave Crona a sympathetic look, pitying his constant attachment to the demon sword. The rest of the gang was close behind her, each welcoming the shy newcomer in their own ways, trying to ignore the insults and threats from Ragnarok throughout the process. All accept Soul, who stayed back, still fuming as he watched.

The rest of the night went on rather well. Soul continued to be cold about Crona, but was still relaxed and cool for everyone else, Black Star was an idiot, Kid was OCD, Tsubaki tried to defuse every problem, and Maka dealt out many a trademark chop. Everything seemed to be back to the way it was, and despite the craziness, Crona seemed to awkwardly and nervously melt right in. He generally stayed quietly on the sidelines with Liz and Patty through most of the shenanigans, but a small hint of a smile on his lips showed he was having a good time. The night finally came to a close as everyone settled in the middle of an unoccupied sports feild to enjoy Tsubaki's picnic.

Maka sat down comfortably between Crona and the aforementioned weapon and helped pass out plates and such from the enormous picnic basket. A veritable feast had seemed to have been prepared, so much that Maka had to question how it was that Tsubaki got it all into its container. "Are you having a good time?" She said as she leaned over to hand Crona his plate. The purple-haired miester nodded in shy confirmation earning a pleased smile from Maka. 'He had been through so much, it was good to see him finally relax, at least a little bit, and have a good night, and everyone seems to be so accepting of him...' Her thoughts wondered lazily as she scanned the circle of now eating teens, halting abruptly on Soul, who's intense stare stopped her satisfied thought train in it's tracks. He hadn't really relaxed since Crona had shown up. He acted like it, even averting his gaze swiftly as soon as Maka cought it, but his soul wavelength told her everything. She shot him an acusing look that he ignored but she knew he saw. The unfortunate food on her plate became the outlet for her slight frustration at her partner, the next few bites getting stabbed quite ruthlessly with her plastic fork. Ordinarily she would calm down quickly from such behavior and let the issue pass her by but instead she started to find herself getting wrapped up in the action, her brutal food assault getting increasingly violent until the styrofoam plate snapped under the aduse. The rest of her dinner spilled into her lap, sparking a surprised yelp and her return to the present moment. Her friends all shot her confused looks and Tsubaki practically leapt to help her clean up in usuol motherly-Tsubaki fation. "Jeez Maka calm down, it's just an inocent little plate." Liz snickered as she ate another mouthful of her own food. "Haha... yeah..." Maka chuckled nervously, trying to help clean herself up. Her heart was pounding in her ears, along with a chaotic white noise she couldn't identify. She struggled to keep her breathing steady, aware of Crona eyeing her intently as if he were in a trance. Ragnorok had torn out of his back as well and was whatching her with what looked like a smile in his eyes. 'They know.' Something in head told her. 'Was it her own thoughts?' She didnt know, the noise was just getting louder. She started to try and cover her ears, her eyes darting desperately amongst the faces of her friends, trying to find any evidence that they were sharing in her pain. They just kept on eating, oblivious. Tsubaki was looking at her worriedly, her mouth moving to form words but their sound was lost among the static. The next moment someone else was beside her, pushing Crona out of the way. Warm arms were around her, lifting her up, but she felt almost numb to them, like when someone touches a limb that's long since fallen asleep. She twitched violently, smacking a mosquito on her neck and causing it to pop. Pulling her hand away to look at the small spot of blood, it was pitch black.

She awoke on the couch in their living room, the four candles Stien gave her burning calmly around her. Soul sat in the shadows staring at her, his soul wavelength cautious and on edge. Maka tried to sit up but found herself tied down to the couch in various locations, holding her where she was. "Soul...?" She asked, her voice surprisingly hoarse. "Sorry, that was the only way I could get you to stay still and use the candles." The loyal scythe said, standing up and coming to untie the bonds. Once in the light, he looked like crap. His hair was a mess, with dirt and debris trapped within the gravity-defying strands, his cloths were in a similar state, and a the beginings of what would soon be a very large bruise was forming on his left cheek and eye, along with a dried bloody lip. Maka chanced a question she knew she didn't want the answer to. "Do they know?" Soul looked grim and nodded. "I think it's a good idea if we don't hang out like that again for a while..." he replied, giving her all the confirmation she needed. Tears pricked at the backs of her green eyes but she held them back, already struggling to speak without adding crying. "What happened?" She croaked. Soul gave a deep sigh, not making eye contact with his miester. "You said and did a lot of things, but I managed to get you back here and tied down so the candles could help you... you were out for about... two hours..." Maka's eyes widened. 'Two hours!? That was the longest episode yet! No wonder Soul looked like hell, he had to deal with that for TWO HOURS!' "I-im so-" "Dont be." Soul cut her apology off. "Its not your fault. Not at all. You should try and get some sleep, I'll wake you up in a couple hours." Make sat up strait and looked at him. "You cant be serious, you look exausted, you need to go to sleep! I can wake myself up." She protested, but Soul just shook his head silently. "Im not tired, I need to shower. See you in a couple hours." He said dismissively as he disapeared down the hall. Maka let out a long, slow breath and settled back down into a laying possition, suddenly noticing how tired she herself was. 'What all did I do exactly?' She wondered as sleep overtook her.

Soul had NO intention of telling her.


	3. What She Doesn't Know Still Hurts Me

Should I bump the rating up on this? Theres mention of some pretty uncomfortable stuff but nothing happens and if you dont know what it is already your probobly not going to find out here. Oh well, just covering my butt just in case. Let me know if you think its too much.

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Soul tried to hold Maka still, clutching her close as she began to spasm and convolse. By now, everyone was on their feet, eyeing them wearily. Tsubaki stepped forward, reaching to try and place a worried hand on Maka. "Soul... what's-" She was cut off as Soul turned sharply, quickly and obviously moving Maka away from the weapons gentle touch. She yelped in surprise and Black Star took a protective step forward, his usuol cocky goofiness sucked away by the shifty vibe of the situation. "Dude, calm down, what's going on?" He asked sternly, his eyes steely as he whatched his friend's movements. Soul was starting to get nervous. 'How was he supposed to explain this to them, and even if he knew how, he couldn't now, it was only a matter of time until...' Maka's writhing suddenly settled, and an eerie chuckle began to rise to everyone's ears, shocking the rest of the circle into complete silence. Her head turned slowly to face outwards, the bangs falling to the sides to reveal her eyes. Liz audibly sucked in a breath and everyone seemed to tense. Patty leaned forward curiously, but even she seemed a bit uneasy, like a puppy inspecting some new and threatening insect. Soul squeezed his eyes shut instinctively, a habit he had formed over the several weeks this had been happening now, so he wouldn't have to look into hers. Bottomless pits, empty and hungry, seemingly swallowing all the light in the park and capturing her friends' attention like a bear trap. "M-maka...?" Tsubaki squeaked, again trying to reach for the girl she thought she knew. It was like whatching a snake strike in slow motion. Maka's head whipped around at lightning speed and she grabbed the weapon's hand her her own, pulling it to her mouth to sink her teeth in. Tsubaki screamed, pulling her hand out of her fumbling grip, examining with horror the wound that was now starting to leak trails of blood down to her finger tips. Maka's teeth weren't animalistically sharp like Soul's, but she had bitten her with so much power and speed that the sound of tearing flesh could still be heard in everyone's ears. Maka cackled loudly, licking the shiny rose liquid from her lips as she grinned around her. "Your blood is nice and red!" She chuckled, pointing to the wound playfully. Black Star started to storm across the picnic blanket. "Soul! What the hell is wrong with her!?" He demanded, pulling the whimpering Tsubaki over to him. All of the humor was gone from his voice, this was bad, and Soul knew it. Kid and the sister pistols were, alternatively, not making any moves to intervene, but their stance and the look in their eyes was enough to put him on edge. "I'll explain later, now I just need to get her back to our apartment!" His red eyes were growing desperate as he tried to keep his rushed postponment of an explanation in as calm and rational a tone as possible. "I can help her there." A half lie, he had no idea if he could or not, but it seemed to calm his freinds. "Alright, we'll help you get her back, I ain't letting whatever this thing is skrew with us." Blackstar stated, a determined grin stretching back towards his ears and causing Soul an unspeakable amount of releif. However, as soon as he said it, Maka decided that she was done sitting still like a good girl and thrust herself out of Soul's grasp, taking off at a full sprint across the feild and into the park, cackling maniacly as she went.

Patty was first to give chase, taking off after the girl with her own manic laph as if it were an inocent game of "phyco's tag", she quickly turned into a pistol however as Kid and Liz zoomed past on the hoverboard, landing perfectly in his hand as they began to gain on her.

Collectively, it took over an hour to finally catch the ash-blonde maniac and wrestle her onto Soul's motorcycle, during which time she scared the wits out of over a dozen park-goers, even taking a quick bite out of a couple before she could be restrained. The ride home was slow, painstaking, and utterly terrifying. Soul lost track of how many times she tried to throw herself from the bike and he had to whip a risky arm around to grab her before she hit the pavement, and the few brief moments she decided to not try and smash her skull open, she spent reaching for the handlebars, tugging on Soul's hair, and generallay just attempting to get them both wrecked. Needless to say, by the time they got back to the apartment, madness infected miester or not, he was about ready to kill the girl, practically dragging her up the stairs and fighting her through the door.

The pig-tailed menace made a beeline for the lightless living room and plopped herself down on the sofa, staring out of the shadows at her weapon with the same hollow, foreign green orbs that haunted his nightmares. He managed to keep a shudder from running down his spine as he averted his gaze and stomped down the hall to retrieve the candles from Maka's room. Returning, he was surprised to find her exactly where he'd left her, her eyes still whatching, unblinking. This time he did shutter, not bothering to turn on the light as he set the candles down on the coffee table and lit them one by one, not wanting to do anything that may start her moving again. He sat back finally with an exhausted sigh, scanning slowly upwards until their eyes once again met. It made his skin crawl and goosebumps rise in a wave across his pale skin, something about the way she was looking at him just didn't sit right, like she was looking into his very mind and soul and judging him, sizing him up. It almost reminded him of Stein. The memory of the creepy old meister helped to calm him down a bit, ironically, and he dropped his eyes to the floor. 'Just have to wait for the candles to kick in. As long as she stays put everything's going to be fine.' He told himself in his head, continuing to descend back into normalcy. "Why are you so quiet?" Maka's voice shocked him right back into his nerves and his gaze jolted up to hers. She eyed him quizically, her head cocked slightly like a confused puppy. "You're no fun anymore. We used to do this together!" She whined, a smile starting to spread over her face again, while her eyes retained their freezing numbness. "I miss that! It's just not the same alone!" Soul was frozen, struggling for a response. She'd never spoken with this much coherency during an episode before. She usuolly just commented on random things she saw, if anything at all. It was very unsettling. She leaned towards him, her smile widening. "Do you wanna come play again Soul? Why don't you go get your little deamon friend?" 'Weird, Soul hadn't heard from the deamon in a while now, he'd been too distracted by Maka's condition to notice. Ordinarily he would have seen him in a dream recently at least, but lately, he had been strangely silent.' Maka had gotten closer during his thoughts, crouching on the coffee table between them instead of on the couch as she continued to lean towards him. "Come oooon, I need my weapon in order to really have a good time..." She reached for him, her empty eyes glittering sadistically. Soul felt her fingers lightly brush his and instinctively jerked away, probobly one of the worst things he could have done. The crazed, but admittedly jovial grin instantly took on a far more malicious tone as she dug her nails into his skin, making him cringe and recoil further just in time to have the full force of her pounce on him.

He hit the floor flat on his back, his head slamming against the hard wood floor with enough force to make him see stars. For a fraction of a moment he thought he might be dieing, his spirit being sucked away into a feelingless nothing, only to realizing that he was just staring into his asailant's eyes, which now hovered only inches above him. She chuckled, shifting her possition crouched on top of him. "It'll be so much funnnnnn!" Soul cringed, glaring up at her. "No." He said the word with so much conviction that he swore the mad girl faltered for a second, almost puzzled by his calm yet stern tone. He pushed her off, keeping a tight grip on her shoulders as he pushed her down into the couch and held her there. After what felt like several minutes of them sitting like that, both eerily still as they stared at one another, Soul released his grip and straightened slowly, trying not to rile her up again. He dug under the kitchen sink for some heavy duty rope that they kept stashed under there in case they ever needed it, however, they had intended a much more domestic necessity like securing luggage or something when they had said that. Not a crazy person. He would have chuckled to himself had he not been in such a stressed state of mind at the time and swiftly turned back to the living room, reclaiming his place in front of his meister, and in this case adversary. She looked up at him, her curiously calm face soon bursting into an exited grin. "Ooooohhhh! We gonna try bondage! I never expected that kind of thing from yoooouuuu Soul, but I'm cool with it! Just make sure you use your scythe arm! I like it rough!" She cackled, sounding entirely too pleased. Soul tried to refrain from vomiting as her words wormed their way into his mind. 'So not cool...' He thought as he tried to shake away the disgusting images.

Reluctantly, he leaned over and grabbed one of her wrists, begining to secure it to one side of the couch. He had to admit, as gross as her suggestion had been, it seemed to get her on board and cooperating so for that he was thankful. Unfortunately though, just as he finished the knot she sprang back into action. She pounced on him again, this time grabbing a fistful of his fluffy white hair and yanking with all her might. Soul shouted in shock and pain, a little bit even in anger and struggled to get away from her. "You can't have all the fun!" She squealed as she pulled his down on top of her and bit down on his ear. He groaned, more in physical pain and frustration that anything, and shoved himself off, trying to keep a grip on her other wrist that was now trying its very best to land a hit on him. It was slow and painstaking, and she didn't stop kicking and screaming the entire time, but he finally managed to restrain all four of her limbs to the couch.

He slumped against the kitchen counter in exaustion, holding himself upright on his arms, his locked elbows the only thing keeping g his face from sitting right on the cold hard surface. He looked up at the clock on the microwave through his sweat-drenched bangs. 12:42. They had been at this for more than two hours. The candles usuolly only took about fifteen or twenty minutes to get her down from an episode like this. Things were getting much, much worse. He flopped down on the chair across the coffee table and stared at her, not caring about how much crap he must have all over him. She had sort of fallen asleep and he prayed to Death it was finally a restful one, until she woke up and he could be sure though, he would whatch her.

When she finally awoke he was beyond relieved, happy to once again be able to see the emerald light where the shadowy pools were not too long ago. He explained what had happened in minimal detail and went to clean himself off, grabbing his phone on the way. He had eight missed calls from Kid, three from Liz, and twenty-seven from Black Star. He also had text from Kid, rather rare really from the sometimes overly mature indeviduol. "We need to talk" was all it said, and Soul knew it was urgent. Ordinarily he wouldn't really be complaining about calling Kid back, it was good way to put off Black Star's inevitable explosion a little longer, but the idea of what the young Shinigami had to say and having to explain to him what exactly was going on was enough to make his guts feel like they were slithering around inside him. The phone barely rang once before it was picked up, yet another bad sign. It was twelve o clock in the frickin morning, if Kid had stayed up all this time waiting for a call back from Soul, this was some serious shit. "Soul..." his voice was a bit cracked from tiredness but still kept most of its deep, authoritative tone. "Kid..." Soul's answer was equally grave. "I spoke to Stein about Maka. He told me everything." The air hissed out of Soul's lungs between his pointed teeth. "You know we have to do something, you should have told us earlier, before this could happen." Kid's voice was stern but pained. "We had it under control... I thought..." Soul growled, balling his hands into fists. "Im going to speak to my father about this. I don't want this to come to anything bad Soul. You and Maka are my friends, but I don't know where this is going to lead, you just need to trust me." Soul could feel his nerves begining to rise. "You dont have to-" Kid cut him off. "I've made my decision Soul, its for the best." And the connection went dead. Soul banged his fist against the bathroom sink, letting his phone fall into its bowl. 'Damnit..."


	4. Time To Sink In

**This chapter took far to long for there to be absolutely nothing happening in it, however, here we sit my little ducklings. Hopefully shit will actuolly happen next chapter and Ill finally stop putting out stuff thats boring as posts. We will see!**

The false sky of the death room hung above them, mockingly bright and tranquil amidst the intense silence. Kid stared at the expressionless mask of his father, struggling to grasp any scrap of emotion or intention from the blank white surface. The tension was begining to wear his patience thin and his fists clenched at his sides. "Father, please..." His voice strained and urgent. The towering figure cocked his head to the side and looked at his son. "You're sure you're right?" The white-striped miester nodded grimly, his eyes full of cold determination, masking his inner frustration and sadness. "Maka is your friend, and you know what may happen if what you say is true." Kid kept his face blank, his mouth drawn into a thin, tight line as he gave another grave nod. "I am aware." Silence hung again in the air for a moment, tension so thick that it felt as though anyone else who attempted to enter the room would bounce off. "I'll have to talk to Stein and Spyrit about this..." Kid gave a swift bow to his father and abruptly turned, walking briskly out of his chamber. The three striped boy wracked his brain, trying to settle the knot in his stomach. 'I'm a shinigami I'm just doing my duty. Reporting this was the best thing we could do, and plus, father is kind, I'm sure it will all work out. In fact, it might even be just was Maka needs to get help.'

The two pistol sisters sat lazily just outside, waiting for their miester to return from his "private meeting." Liz leaned up against one of the several red arches that adorned the entryway and whatched her sister draw invisible pictures on the spotless white floor with her finger. Her mind wondered aimlessly as she observed the seemingly meeningless strokes, almost lost in the veguely hypnotic motions until her mind finally cought onto something it found peculiar. 'Kid never really has private conversations with his dad. Even with most stuff that no one else is in on, they were always by his side. Why was this so special?' She continued to brood on it, even begining to teeter on the edge of anoyance at the anomily as her shared meister finally emerged.

His tight, strained features gave her pause, a subtle deviation from his usuol deadpan expression that would go unnoticed by most people, but was picked up emediately by the loyal pistol. It took the younger of the two a few more seconds to catch on but when she finally looked up from her finely crafted imaginary masterpiece, her reaction was instantaneous, and much different than her sidling's. An exited squeal and exuberant hug very nearly floored the young shinigami and he managed to rather easily force a tired smile for his assailant. "So how'd your little father son talk go?" The now towering Liz inquired, leaning down slightly to be eye level with weighted Kid. He averted his glaze for a split second, once again subtle but snapped up in an instant by the street-wise girl. "... it was fine... nothing you need to worry yourselves with." Liz raised an eyebrow critically but didn't get a chance to persue as her meister breezed past her, surprisingly easily considering he was still technacally carrying Patty like a baby coala. "Lets just get home, I need to check on my candles again." His voice flew back over his shoulder and with a worried sigh, Liz reluctantly followed, tucking her suspicions safely away until later.

Tsubaki eyed her meister nervously, gently rubbing her now cleanly wrapped hand, wary of his uncharacteristic silence as he stared intently at their floorboards. His wild eyes were distant, but not the crazy stupid kind she was used to, the kind where she could tell he was contemplating something, and as others joked, it was surprising that you couldn't see smoke coming out of his ears from the strain. Meekly, the uncomfortable weapon cleared her throat, breaking the dead silence and snapping her partner to attention. For a moment their gazes locked, and Blackstar almost looked lost, confusion and hurt swimming in his irises, but it was only a moment and his face was quickly split wide open by a confident smile. "Feelin' better?" He asked casuolly, the laid back tone almost grating on Tsubaki's ears in the midst of what she thought was such a stress-filled time. She blinked blankly for a second before cracking her own small smile and nodding. "Yeah..." The bluenett yawned, his mouth gapping like a snake as he stood up and streached. With a sigh, he dropped his arms back down to his sides and his eyes to his weapon, the vacant unhappyness that previously plagued them all but gone. "Well, im headin' to bed, see ya in the morning." He said with a shrug as he disapeared down the hallway to his room. When she was certain he was gone, Tsubaki slouched forward with an exhausted sigh, her eyebrows drawn up near the center of her forehead. "Black Star... what are you thinking...?"

The silence was broken by the sudden chorus of clinks and Maka almost jumped out of her skin as the ice cubes collided with her face. She took a deep breath and set the glass down in the little ring-shaped puddle she had cultivated on the counter, this had been at least her fifth glass of ice water now and she was still thirsty. "What the heck, did I run a freaking marathon while I was out?" She grumbled, taking a breather before her next refill. "Nah, just a few laps around the park." The familiar voice startled her from behind and she nearly jumped again before she turned around to face her partner. He was leaning against the doorframe with a tired, rather half-assed smirk hanging loosely from his features. Maka let out the breath she had unintentionally been holding, returning the look with a similarly drained smile. "Sorry... what else did I do?" She tried tentatively, hoping to now possibly get an answer. A hope that was quickly pushed aside as Soul shook his head in silence, walking across the room to put a firm, pale hand on her shoulder. "Some other time... its late and you should get to bed." Maka sighed, only being held back from arguing by her own exaustion. "Tomorow morning. Promise." The white haired scythe nodded, his smirk blooming into a grin to reveal his jagged teeth. "Fine, tomorow." Saticfied, the little blond turned back to the sink, replenished her ice-filled glass one more time, and walked briskly back to her bedroom. Soul listened to the closing of the door and chuckled, shaking his head. "She didn't even remember to brush her teeth." For Maka, that, was tired.


End file.
